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Sweden: This is the final list of participants for Melodifestivalen 2023!

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After the SVT announcement for the 14 initial names that will participate in Melodifestivalen 2023, the time has come for the remaining names to be revealed. So, now we know the 28 names that are going to claim the Swedish victory and representation in Eurovision 2023. Are you ready?

You can read the first 14 names here.

 

Heat 3: Linköping, 18/02/2023

Marcus & Martinus – Air

Created by: Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Marcus Gunnarsen, Martinus Gunnarsen

 

Marcus and Martinus are 20-year-old twins from Norway that became famous when they were aged 10 at the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix Junior. In their 10 years at the foreground, they have had sold out concerts in Europe, they performed the official song for the Swedish heir of the throne and won a Norwegian Grammy. Their greatest hit Elektrisk, holds a record in Norway as the song that managed to stay for the longest period of time at the Top 10 charts, 66 weeks to be exact. After winning The Masked Singer Sweden in 2022 now their base is in Stockholm and have started to collab with Swedish songwriters and producers.

 

Melanie Wehbe – For the Show

Created by: David Lindgren Zacharias, Herman Gardarfve, Melanie Wehbe

 

In addition to being a performer, Melanie Wehbe is an award-winning songwriter who has written music for both Swedish and international artists. She is now celebrating ten years as a songwriter; a decade in which she has managed to write two Idol winning singles, a number one on Svensktoppen, three on Spotify and number one on radio, as well as a win at both Melodifestivalen (2020) and Melodi Grand Prix Denmark (2019). As an artist, Melanie recently established herself as a rising star, gracing the cover of QX magazine and was given the honour of closing Stockholm Pride 2022 on the main stage at Pride Park.

 

Ida-Lova – Låt Hela Stan Se På

Created by: Andreas “Giri” Lindbergh, Ida-Lova Lind, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb

 

Ida-Lova came to Sweden’s attention when, as a 13-year-old, she performed a version of Kent’s Utan Dina Andetag, at the 2017 Svenska Hjältargalan TV fundraiser. Since then she has released eight songs, five of which were included in her debut album on the EP Hallå Världen Kan Du Stanna; , released in June 2022. Ida-Lova is now 18 years old and lives in Stockholm.

 

 

Paul Rey – Royals

Created by: Dino Medanhodzic, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, LIAMOO, Paul Rey

 

Paul Rey, 30 years old, hails from Lund in southern Sweden. A familiar face to Melodifestivalen fans, he has previously competed twice. In 2020 with Talking In Your Sleep and in 2021 with The Missing Piece. In 2022 he also competed, this time as a songwriter, and reached the final once again, with Cazzi Opeia’s I Can’t Get Enough. Paul has written many big hits for other artists and his own releases have been streamed over 200 million times.

 

Nordman – Släpp Alla Sorger

Created by: Jimmy Jansson, Thomas G:son

 

Nordman’s story began in 1991, when violinist, producer and songwriter Mats Wester was looking for a singer for his experimental new project, mixing folk music with pop. By chance, Håkan Hemlin found himself in the same studio as Mats, to record a demo with his rock band. They both liked what they heard from each other and the duo was formed. They sold over a million albums in the 90s alone. This will be Nordman’s third time competing at Melodifestivalen, after participating in 2005 with Ödet Var Min Väg and in 2008 with I Lågornas Sken.

 

Laurell – Sober

Created by: Anderz Wrethov, Andreas Stone Johansson, Laurell Barker, Thomas Stengaard

 

Born in Canada but having moved to Malmö for love, Laurell is an established singer-songwriter who has recently embarked on her own career as a solo artist. Her debut single Habit was a big hit on radio and streaming in Sweden in 2022, as well as in other parts of Europe. In 2019, Laurell became the first female songwriter to contribute to three Eurovision Song Contest entries in the same year (Switzerland, Germany and the UK). At Melodifestivalen, she has previously written entries for Hanna Ferm, Renaida, Faith Kakembo and Paul Rey.

 

Casanovas – Så Kommer Känslorna Tillbaka

Created by: Henrik Sethsson, Mikael Karlsson

 

One of Sweden’s most popular dansband, the Casanovas were formed in 1989. Since then, their rise to success has led them to the top of the charts on many occasions. They have been nominated five times for the Swedish Grammy Award. Band member Henrik Sethsson has previously won the Melodifestivalen as a songwriter, with Listen To Your Heartbeat by Friends in 2001. He also wrote the Melodifestivalen hit Something In Your Eyes by Jenny Silver.

 

Heat 4: Malmö, 25/2/2023

Signe & Hjördis – Edelweiss

Created by: Anderz Wrethov, Jimmy Jansson, Myra Granberg

 

Signe and Hjördis Bornemark, 16 and 18 years old from Kullabygden in Skåne, are siblings. These days, the sisters enjoy doing everything from singing, working with choirs and writing their own songs to participating in many theatre and music productions. They like everything from jazz to rock, but would better describe their singing at Melodifestivalen as folk-pop.

 

Axel Schylström – Gorgeous

Created by: Axel Schylström, Herman Gardarfve, Jonas Thander, Malin Halvardsson

 

Axel Schylström became known through his participation in Idol in 2015, quickly followed by his recording debut at Melodifestivalen in 2017 with När Ingen Ser. More recently, in 2022, he competed as a songwriter and reached the final of Melodifestivalen with THEOZ and Som Du Vill. Axel has published his autobiography in recent years and established himself as one of the most popular spoken word artists.

 

Emil Henrohn – Mera Mera Mera

Created by: Emil Henrohn, Jakob Redtzer, Ji Nilsson, Marlene Strand

 

When the pandemic struck, musical theatre artist Emil Henrohn was left without a job. He began making humorous videos of himself at home and quickly became a hit on TikTok as the character “Mama” (the mother). In 2022, he gained even more recognition on TikTok with the song Jag Är Mamma and today he has gained over 500,000 followers on the platform and has been named Sweden’s most powerful TikToker. Now that the music theatre has reopened, Emil has recently starred in productions of Annie and Hair.

 

Mariette – One Day

Created by: Jimmy Jansson, Thomas G:son, Mariette

 

Mariette first participated in Melodifestivalen in 2015 with the song Don’t Stop Believing. Since then, she has competed three more times, in 2017, 2018 and 2020, reaching the final in all four attempts. Outside of music, Mariette recently moved from Stockholm to the southwest coast of Sweden and started a family with her wife. This year she released the song Just Du, dedicated to their son born in 2021.

 

 

Smash Into Pieces – Six Feet Under

Created by: Andreas “Giri” Lindbergh, Benjamin Jennebo, Chris Adam, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Per Bergquist

 

Internationally, Swedish rock exports Smash Into Pieces are perhaps best known for their cinematic, apocalyptic image and sound, thanks in large part to their legendary masked drummer, leader and mascot, APOC. With over half a billion streams to their name and nearly 600,000 followers on social media, the band has completed several tours in both Europe and the US.

 

Loreen – Tattoo

Created by: Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Loreen, Moa “Cazzi Opeia” Carlebecker, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son

 

In 2022 it will be ten years since Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with Euphoria. The song became a big hit across Europe and beyond, reaching number one in 21 countries and has since become one of the most recognized and well-known entries in the history of the contest. Post-Euphoria, Loreen released two albums and made her debut as an actress in the new film adaptation of Vinterviken, which was released in 2021. Loreen’s most recent musical release was the single Neon Lights, which was released during the summer.

 

Kiana – Where did you go

Created by: Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb

 

Kiana Blanckert began singing and dancing at an early age, and one of her most vivid memories of her childhood is when she performed Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time on a cruise ship as a four-year-old. Her mother is a professional dancer and Kiana has been taking dance classes since she was three years old. Now almost 16, she recently rose to fame on the show Talang (Sweden’s Got Talent), finishing second in the 2021 series.

The detailed programme of Melodifestivalen 2023

Heat 1: Gothenburg, 4 February 2023 (Scandinavium)

Heat 2: Linköping, 11 February 2023 (Saab Arena)

Heat 3: Lidköping, 18 February 2023 (Sparbanken Arena)

Heat 4: Malmö, 25 February 2023 (Sparbanken Arena)

Heat 5: Örnsköldsvik, 4 March 2023 (Hägglunds Arena)

Grand Final: Stockholm, 11 March 2023 (Friends Arena)

As a reminder, Melodifestivalen 2023 is scheduled to take place from 4 February to 11 March with hosts Jesper Rönndahl and Farah Abadi.

 

Stay tuned to Eurovision Fun for all the news regarding Sweden’s participation in Eurovision 2023!

 

Source: Eurovision.tv

Sweden: These are the 14 first contestants of Melodifestivalen 2023!

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As promised by the national Swedish broadcaster SVT, the time has come for the 14 first contestants of the Swedish national selection of 2023 to be revealed!

The first 14 contestants competing at Melodifestivalen 2023 are the following:

Heat 1: Gothenburg, Saturday 4 February

Victor Crone – Diamonds

 

From Österåker, just outside of Stockholm, Victor Crone is a name that will be familiar to many Eurovision Song Contest fans. The singer competed for Estonia at the 2019 Contest in Tel Aviv, with the song Storm. As a songwriter, Victor found himself competing in two Eurovision Song Contest pre-selections in 2022: the Melodifestivalen final (as co-writer of Robin Bengtsson’sInnocent Love) and the Eesti Laul final in Estonia (as one of the writers behind Stig Rästa’s Interstellar). This will be Victor’s third time competing in Melodifestivalen as an artist.

Rejhan – Haunted

Written by: Albin Johnsén, Mattias Andréasson, Pontus Söderman, Tilde RONIA Wrigsell

16 year old Rejhan Bellani made a name for himself in the 2021 series of Talang (Sweden’s Got Talent). Since then, he’s been honing his craft in the studio throughout 2022 and makes his debut as an artist in 2023. The young music talent has been singing, playing piano and playing guitar since he was just four years old. With roots in Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, he can sing in Albanian, Bosnian, English and Swedish. When Rejhan is not creating music or playing football, he is studying economics at high school.

Loulou LaMotte – Inga Sorger

Written by: Jonas Thander, Loulou LaMotte

A member of The Mamas, Loulou has also found time in 2022 to restart her career as a solo artist, having released three singles over the past few months. Now, her solo career begins a new chapter: Melodifestivalen 2023! As a member of The Mamas, Loulou has already won Melodifestivalen, in 2020 with the song Move. One year earlier in 2019, the singer and songwriter got to perform on the Eurovision Song Contest stage when The Mamas sang backing vocals for John Lundvik, representing Sweden with Too Late For Love and finishing in the top five.

Eva Rydberg & Ewa Roos – Länge Leve Livet

Written by: Emil Vaker, Henric Pierroff, Kalle Rydberg

Eva Rydberg and Ewa Roos are two of Sweden’s most beloved actors and artists, with over 60 years in theatre, revue, film and music to their names. They have shared the stage many times before, most notably in recent years when they participated in Melodifestivalen 2021 with the song Rena Rama Ding Dong. With their comic talent, timing and great chemistry, the song became a big favourite amongst fans. And no doubt to the delight of many, the duo are back in 2023 to do it all over again.

Elov & Beny – Raggen Går

Written by: Johan Werner, Kristian Wejshag, Mattias Elovsson, Oscar Kilenius, Tim Larsson

With hits such as Bubbel På Balkongen and Kommer Över Dig, Elov & Beny have been a staple at house parties all over Sweden in recent years. The duo was founded in 2008 and is made up of Mattias ‘Elov’ Elovsson and Oscar ‘Beny’ Kilenius. In 2022, Elov & Beny have become one of the most streamed acts in Sweden. With the summer hit Bubbel På Balkongen, they reached number two in the charts in both Sweden and in neighbouring Norway. A party, a high tempo and a smile are all promised when Elov & Beny make their debut at Melodifestivalen.

Tone Sekelius – Rhythm Of My Show

Written by: Anderz Wrethov, Dino Medanhodzic, Jimmy “Joker” Thörnfeldt, Tone Sekelius

Tone Sekelius achieved huge success at Melodifestivalen 2022, when she finished in 5th place with the song My Way. The first trans person to compete at Melodifestivalen in the contest’s history, Tone has since gone on to become one of Sweden’s biggest influencers on TikTok and YouTube. Her star has also risen on TV too, where she’s performed on many of Sweden’s biggest shows, and become the new host of the popular reality TV dating format Paradise.

Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North feat. Adam Woods – Where You Are (Sávečan)

Written by: Arc North, Calle Hellberg, Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Joy Deb, Oliver Belvelin, Richard Lästh, Tobias Lundgren, William Segerdahl

The connection between Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Arc North and Adam Woods might seem unexpected to some at first, but if you dive deeper into their musical journey, it quickly becomes clear why their collaboration has worked so well. With a great longing for the mysterious and epic, these three artists create a unique sense of sonic grandeur. A tribute to indescribably beautiful mountain peaks and deep forests permeates their works and cross-border collaborations. Jon Henrik Fjällgren will be familiar to Melodifestivalen viewers, with him having participated three times before, most recently in 2019.

HEAT 2: Linköping, Saturday 11 February

Wiktoria – All My Life (Where Have You Been)

Written by: Herman Gardarfve, Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Wiktoria Johansson

It’s been 16 years since the then 10 year old from Borås participated in Lilla Melodifestivalen (Melodifestivalen Junior) with the self-written contribution Jag Behöver Dig. Today, Wiktoria is a well-known face to Melodifestivalen fans. Through her previous three times participating at the contest, she has reached the final every time, and had two of those songs reach number one on the Spotify charts: As I Lay Me Down and Save Me. Wiktoria’s music has now been streamed over 100 million times. In 2016, the artist provided the Swedish voice for Disney’s Vaiana – the Swedish-language release of Moana.

Eden – Comfortable

Written by: Benjamin Rosenbohm, Eden Alm, Emil Adler Lei, Julie Aagaard

22 year old artist Eden (Eden Alm) from Hässleholm has been forging a huge success of her music over on TikTok, and is now making her Melodifestivalen debut in 2023. On TikTok, Eden shares her own personal songs about events that have shaped her life in recent years. Eden alternates the songs with clips from her relationship with fellow social-media star Sara Songbird, and their life in Stockholm. Eden has gone from relative anonymity to a respected songwriter and artist in a short time, and looks forward to opening the next chapter of her music career in Linköping!

Uje Brandelius – Grytan

Written by: Uje Brandelius

On Uje Brandelius’ CV, he can proudly list singer, pianist, songwriter, theatre actor, radio reporter, author, film star and even TV quiz winner! Well, now he can also add Melodifestivalen artist to all of the above. Uje started his music career as a songwriter and singer in the ‘90s band Doktor Kosmos, who have made a triumphant comeback across Swedish stages in the past year. In 2015, Uje released his solo album Spring, Uje, Spring, which then became the basis for a stage performance of the same name at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, followed by an acclaimed radio-theatre drama and finally a feature film directed by Henrik Schyffert. Uje Brandelius competes with his self-penned song Grytan. He describes the song as “a story about cooking, mood swings and conflict management. But mostly it’s ‘a song about love’.

THEOZ – Mer Av Dig

Written by: Axel Schylström, Jakob Redtzer, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son

17 year old THEOZ will be performing on home territory in the second heat, as he hails from Linköping. The artist made a big splash at Melodifestivalen 2022, when he went to the final and had a hit with the song Som Du Vill. The track remained in the top ten on Spotify for quite some time and its success was followed by his own summer tour, his participation in the hugely popular annual Diggiloo tour, and the release of a brand new EP. THEOZ is one of Sweden’s biggest influencers, with over two million followers across his channels. He debuted with the single Het at just 12 years old, and its music video became the most viewed Swedish music video on YouTube that year.

Maria Sur – Never Give Up

Written by: Anderz Wrethov, Laurell Barker

Soon-to-be 18 year old Maria was born and raised in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. When the war against her country broke out in February 2022, she was one of the contestants competing in Ukraine’s edition of The Voice. Maria and her mother fled the country for safety in Sweden, while her father was forced to stay behind. Once in Sweden, and determined not to let the war take away her dreams, she sought out a number of people involved in music. Former Melodifestivalen host Sarah Dawn Finer answered, and recommended Maria to the gala Hela Sverige Skramlar; a televised fundraiser that would go on to raise about 80 million SEK for aid work in Ukraine. Following her performance at the gala, Maria was signed to a Swedish record label and released her debut single That’s The Way. Maria currently attends the music school Lilla Akademien in Stockholm, and studies at a school in Ukraine by distance learning.

Tennessee Tears – Now I Know

Written by: Anderz Wrethov, Jonas Hermansson, Thomas Stengaard, Tilda Feuk

Tennessee Tears, made up of Tilda Feuk and Jonas Hermansson, is a country music duo from Sweden that has been making music together for eight years now. It all started with a songwriting collaboration with Billy Burnette (Fleetwood Mac) in Nashville, and they have since travelled back there several times to both write and record music of their own. Tennessee Tears has a number of well-received singles in their repertoire by now, and has collaborated with musicians such as Dave Roe (Johnny Cash), Michael Rhodes (Emmylou Harris, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum) and Ben Sesar (Brad Paisley).

Panetoz – On My Way

Written by: Anders Wigelius, Daniel Nzinga, Jimmy Jansson, Nebeyu Baheru, Njol Badjie, Pa Modou Badjie, Robert Norberg

The Stockholm band Panetoz, who had their big breakthrough with the summer hit Dansa Pausa in 2012, makes what is sure to be a very welcome return to Melodifestivalen. Their debut in the competition came in 2014 with the song Efter Solsken, which went directly to the final, and they then participated again in 2016 with the song Håll Om Mig Hård, which also took them to the final. Much like Melodifestivalen royalty ABBA before them, the name Panetoz comes from the first letters of the names of the three founders: Pa Modou, Nebeyu and Tobias (who is no longer a member). The band’s current line-up is Pa Modou Badjie, Nebeyu Baheru, Johan Hirvi, Njol Ismail Badjie and Daniel Nzinga.

 

The dates of Melodifestivalen 2023

  • Heat 1: Gothenburg – Saturday 4 February 2023 (Scandinavium)
  • Heat 2: Linköping – Saturday 11 February 2023 (Saab Arena)
  • Heat 3: Lidköping – Saturday 18 February 2023 (Sparbanken Arena)
  • Heat 4: Malmö – Saturday 25 February 2023 (Malmö Arena)
  • Semi-final: Örnsköldsvik – Saturday 4 March 2023 (Hägglunds Arena)
  • Final: Stockholm – Satuday 11 March 2023 (Friends Arena)

We remind you that Melodifestivalen 2023 is scheduled to take place between February 4th to March 11th and will be hosted by Jesper Rönndahl and Farah Abadi.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the developments related to the Swedish national selection for Eurovision 2023!